Poem Analysis( RAINBOW DEATH)

Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.
Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Hubert Wilson


Point of view
The speaker was a soldier fighting in the Vietnam War. He was also a victim of Agent Orange and poor conditions during wartime. He only felt the effects of the toxins many years after the war and eventually he was immobilized and decided to write. Therefore, his perspective may be a bit extreme and negative because he had gone through the turmoil of war and it changed his psychological aspect of life differently.

Situation and Setting

Tension is created through the punctuation marks used. He started to use exclamation marks and question marks to emphasize his frustration about the innocent suffering from war. He also emphasized the consequences of war by using capital letters for certain words. This capitalisation is used to create tension.

As the title stated, "Rainbow Death". The rainbow refers to the different colors Agent orange produce. Although these chemical agents produce very vivid and attractive colors, but these agents kill people and caused future generations to suffer from birth defects and other diseases as well.(according to http://www.lewispublishing.com/orange.htm) He wants his readers to know of the horrible consequences of war and also mocks the authority so that young men would think twice before going into a war.

Language and Diction

"Potpourri" means a mixture of dried petals of roses or other flowers with spices, kept in a jar for their fragrance.(http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Potpurri) This is very ironic because potpourri is supposed to allow people to enjoy the fragrance of flowers but the fragrance in this poem refers to Agent Orange which kill people at a large scale.
This poem compares negative terms with positive terms, creating irony as well as sarcasm.

Personal Response


I believe that war is a very cruel thing as displayed by creation of mass-killing weapons. War can be avoided, not only do the soldiers suffer but the civilians are those who are worst hit. If soldiers are educated about the terror and sufferings of war, war would not occur at all